BIBLE STUDY #100


SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

July 29, 2012



READING 1

2 KINGS 4:42-44



A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, the man of God,

twenty barley loaves made from the firstfruits,

and fresh grain in the ear.

Elisha said, "Give it to the people to eat."

But his servant objected,

"How can I set this before a hundred people?"

Elisha insisted, "Give it to the people to eat."

"For thus says the LORD,

'They shall eat and there shall be some left over.'"

And when they had eaten, there was some left over,

as the LORD had said.



The Word of the Lord



READING 2

EPHESIANS 4:1-6



Brothers and sisters:

I, a prisoner for the Lord,

urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,

with all humility and gentleness, with patience,

bearing with one another through love,

striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace:

one body and one Spirit,

as you were also called to the one hope of your call;

one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

one God and Father of all,

who is over all and through all and in all.



The Word of the Lord



GOSPEL

JOHN 6:1-15



Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee.

A large crowd followed him,

because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.

Jesus went up on the mountain,

and there he sat down with his disciples.

The Jewish feast of Passover was near.

When Jesus raised his eyes

and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,

he said to Philip,

"Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?"

He said this to test him,

because he himself knew what he was going to do.

Philip answered him,

"Two hundred days?' wages worth of food would not be enough

for each of them to have a little.'"

One of his disciples,

Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,

"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;

but what good are these for so many?"

Jesus said, "Have the people recline."

Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.

So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.

Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,

and distributed them to those who were reclining,

and also as much of the fish as they wanted.

When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,

"Gather the fragments left over,

so that nothing will be wasted."

So they collected them,

and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments

from the five barley loaves

that had been more than they could eat.

When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,

"This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world."

Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off

to make him king,

he withdrew again to the mountain alone.



The Gospel of the Lord



Reflection



Many people follow Jesus because of the signs and wonders he has done. There is little indication that they understand the meaning of these signs and wonders. The gospels for the next 4 weeks will be from the 6th chapter of John, from a section called the bread of life discourse, where Jesus will attempt to explain the meaning of the miracle seen in today’s Gospel. Since there is no institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper in John, this chapter is John’s narrative on the Eucharist.



Jesus crosses the Sea of Galilee and sits on a mountain. Sitting is the stance of a teacher. A mountain is where God is revealed. This is a reference to Moses, who receives God’s Law on Mount Sinai in Exodus chapter 24. Jesus is the new and greater teacher. Moses passes on the Law given to him by God. Jesus teaches on his own authority as the Son of God. This passage takes place during Passover, setting the new Eucharistic teaching in the context of the Exodus event. In the Exodus event, God frees the people from bondage in Egypt and feeds them along the way. The saving action of Jesus death and resurrection and the giving of himself in the Eucharist frees us from the bondage of sin and death and feeds us along our pilgrim journey of life



Jesus “raising his eyes to heaven” is an action found only two other times in this gospel: Jesus praying at Lazarus tomb and in his prayer at the Last Supper. This is a special and exemplary prayer done before an important event. Jesus is showing us the importance of prayer in our lives.



Jesus is concerned with their need for nourishment, both physical and spiritual. Where were they going to find food on a mountain, presumably a deserted place? Philip was from this area, and he was exasperated at being asked to find food for so many people. Andrew brings a boy to Jesus who has five loaves and 2 fish, but he says what good is this for so many? None of the Apostles understand Jesus. They had been with Jesus, seen some his mighty works (called ‘signs’ in this gospel), but didn’t even consider the possibility that Jesus could do a mighty work in this instance. It’s not until Pentecost that the disciples begin to understand.



In the other 3 gospels, Jesus says the blessing, breaks the bread, and then gives the bread to the apostles to distribute. In John’s gospel, Jesus gave thanks (from which we get the word ‘Eucharist’) and then distributes the bread and fish himself. Either way, we are reminded of the prayers the priest prays at mass during the consecration, in which the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. This is a reminder to us of God giving manna in the desert (Exodus 16). In the next 4 weeks, we will hear more of Jesus as the bread of life come down from heaven, a further explanation of John’s idea of Eucharist.



The 12 baskets of bread remaining after all had eaten shows us how abundant God is with his love and care for us. God provides for our needs. He feeds us with his love so we can feed others. He doesn’t give us everything we want, but everything we need.



The people believe in Jesus as a prophet; he is, but more than just a prophet. He is a prophet in the sense of Moses, since he comes to teach us God’s will. With Moses, God gave the people manna to sustain them on their journey to the Promised Land. With Jesus, we get the gift of the Eucharist to sustain us on our spiritual journey to the Promised Land of eternal life. The people want to make him king in a worldly sense. Ironically, he is already a king, but in the spiritual realm, and hopefully the king of our lives.



This story tells us that whenever we give everything we have, God will transform our gifts into something much larger to benefit everybody. God works through us to build up the kingdom.



We can see the similarities of the first reading and the Gospel. Elisha foreshadows Jesus actions of feeding the crowds. Elisha is fulfilling the role of prophet and king, since a king’s job was to look after the welfare of the people. In both readings, God works through poor people to bring his abundant love to the world.



The second reading form Ephesians is from a section of this book dedicated to Christian unity. Christians have been fashioned by the Spirit into a single body, the church, belonging to a single Lord (pagans had more than one god), who are baptized into this one body and are saved through faith. Unity is more than shared faith; it is using our gifts to serve the community, gifts that were given by Christ, the source of the church’s spiritual gifts. Christ is the head of the church due to his death and resurrection.





Fr. Phil

BIBLE STUDY #99


SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

July 22, 2012



READING 1

JEREMIAH 23:1-6



Woe to the shepherds

who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture,

says the LORD.

Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel,

against the shepherds who shepherd my people:

You have scattered my sheep and driven them away.

You have not cared for them,

but I will take care to punish your evil deeds.

I myself will gather the remnant of my flock

from all the lands to which I have driven them

and bring them back to their meadow;

there they shall increase and multiply.

I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them

so that they need no longer fear and tremble;

and none shall be missing, says the LORD.



Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD,

when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David;

as king he shall reign and govern wisely,

he shall do what is just and right in the land.

In his days Judah shall be saved,

Israel shall dwell in security.

This is the name they give him:

"The LORD our justice."



The Word of the Lord



READING 2

EPHESIANS 2:13-18



Brothers and sisters:

In Christ Jesus you who once were far off

have become near by the blood of Christ.



For he is our peace, he who made both one

and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh,

abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims,

that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two,

thus establishing peace,

and might reconcile both with God,

in one body, through the cross,

putting that enmity to death by it.

He came and preached peace to you who were far off

and peace to those who were near,

for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.



GOSPEL

MARKK 6:30-34



The apostles gathered together with Jesus

and reported all they had done and taught.

He said to them,

"Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."

People were coming and going in great numbers,

and they had no opportunity even to eat.

So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.

People saw them leaving and many came to know about it.

They hastened there on foot from all the towns

and arrived at the place before them.



When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,

his heart was moved with pity for them,

for they were like sheep without a shepherd;

and he began to teach them many things.



The Gospel of the Lord



Reflection



In last week’s Gospel, we see that Jesus sent the Apostles on a mission (the word apostle means ‘one sent’). The apostles have returned from their mission, have gathered around Jesus and reported all that they had done and taught. Jesus never comments on their mission, so they must have carried out Jesus’ mission of proclaiming the need for conversion and performing exorcisms and healings (see 6:12-13). For Mark, the essence of discipleship is being with Jesus and doing the things of Jesus; that is, teaching and works of power.



Some translations use ‘desolate place’ instead of ‘deserted place’ since the latter suggests that no one is there, which is not true in this case. The phrase ‘desolate place’ (or desert wilderness) reminds us of John’s original call to repentance (1:3-5), of Jesus temptation (1:12-13), and of the place where Jesus returns to pray (1:35, 45).



Jesus wants his followers to rest awhile. The word rest alludes to 1) Psalm 23, where the shepherd cares for the psalmist by restful waters; 2) the land promised to the people after the wandered the wilderness (Ex 33:1-14, Deut12:9-10, Jer 31:2); 3) Matt 11:28-29, where Jesus promises rest to the weary, and 4) Hebrews 4:9-11, the eschatological rest from toils as promised to God’s people. We would call it something like ‘recharging our batteries.’



The large numbers of people that prevent them from eating emphasizes the charisma of Jesus and the theme in the early part of this Gospel that the crowds hem Jesus in. It is also a new Exodus – just as Israel fled Egypt for a land filled with milk and honey, so the people are fleeing to Jesus, who feeds them with finest wheat.



The people recognize Jesus and follow him. While he will have no privacy now, there will come a time when all but a few will desert him. But right now they recognize Jesus as a great prophet, healer, and miracle worker, and the numbers who follow him seem to indicate their neediness.



Jesus has compassion on the people. The word translated as compassion means merciful love, which a quality of God in the Old Testament (Isaiah 54, Psalms 86, 111, 112, 145). Compassion moves us from sympathy to action. When we feel compassion, we feel others pain, but also a desire to help.



In the Old Testament, God is the shepherd of Israel that needs protection and guidance. Jesus comes as a shepherd, the Son of God who satisfies their physical needs with mighty works and also fills their spiritual needs.



Jesus teaches them many things. As stated earlier, Jesus’ mission is to proclaim the need for conversion and to perform exorcisms and healings. Jesus becomes the faithful shepherd of the new Israel.



In the first reading, Jeremiah gives a dire warning to all who are in leadership positions. God says, “Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture… You have scattered my sheep… but I will take care to punish your evil deeds.” God promises to send a leader, a new David, who will shepherd the people. Spiritual leaders have a great responsibility and need to take that seriously. Leaders need to lead people to God, not to themselves. As the saying goes, “You can be replaced.”



In the second reading, Paul talks about Jesus ability to unite all people. Jesus church into include anyone who desires to join: “In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ.” Jesus came not only for the Jews, but for Gentiles: “He came and preached peace to you who were far off

and peace to those who were near, for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”



Fr. Phil